IPL 2018: 4 tactical decisions by Dhoni that have paid off 

#4 Promoting pinch-hitters up the order

Bhajji walked out at no.5 last night

Last night’s game against KXIP was the last of the league stage. It was not a dead rubber by any means as Delhi’s win over Mumbai earlier in the day meant that KXIP were still in with a chance of making the playoffs.

They did not bat well and if not for Karun Nair’s exploits, could have ended up with a below-par score. Instead they got to a respectable 153 but it still seemed CSK would coast through given their status as the best chasing team.

But Rajpoot and Mohit Sharma had other plans as they picked 3 wickets in no time. Dhoni was expected to walk out at no.5 but to everyone’s surprise, Harbhajan Singh was promoted up the order. And when he fell, Chahar was sent in ahead of Dhoni himself. These decisions baffled everyone but the captain had no issues.

Harbhajan threw his bat around for a while and Chahar hit a valuable 39 off 20 balls to wrest back the momentum for CSK. Dhoni would later admit in the post-match interview that he promoted the pinch-hitters to disturb the lines and lengths of the KXIP bowlers. He might have come under criticism if the moves hadn’t worked but this is Dhoni we are talking about. He had once again proved we why should never doubt him.